Becky's In Home Bistro

New Recipe: Green Chile Three Cheese and Chicken Enchiladas

2011-11-07T06:53:00.000-08:00

It has been way to long since I have posted-I am very sorry but I can tell you this recipe that I adapted last night is definately worth the wait!

1 8oz cheddar blend shredded cheese
5 green onions sliced
1 tsp cumin
3 cups cooked chicken ( I used chicken thighs, but you could use rotisserie chicken)
1 8oz cream cheese softened
6-8 flour tortilla's
1 28 oz can green chile enchilada sauce
1/4 cup cojita cheese or queso fresco cheese

Preheat oven to 400 and spray 9 x 13 pan and set aside.

If you have a gas stove turn a burner on and lightly char each side of your tortilla's.

Combine 1/2 of the shredded cheese blend with 1/2 the cojita cheese with onions, cumin and chicken. I also added about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce.

Spread cream cheese on each tortilla and then put chicken and cheese filling in-roll up placing seam side down in pan.

Pour sauce over enchilada's keeping any additional to serve overtop at the table. Top with additional shredded cheese and cojita cheese.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and brown on top.

Serve with warmed leftover enchilada sauce.

Enjoy

Garden Pesto

2011-08-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

Went to the garden a little bit ago and cut some romaine lettuce, cilantro and chives-brought them in combined with garlic, roasted red pepper and some parm cheese and there you have it a different twisted pesto that I will use on my grilled pizza tonight.

Does anyone else make different created pestos?????

My First Attempt at Preparing Goat

2011-07-12T04:24:00.000-07:00

We happened upon some freshly processed goat yesterday so I took on the task of finding a recipe to prepare it.

The following is the recipe that I found and we were successful. I served the meat sliced thin on charred flour taco shells with a little salad made from our garden of romaine lettuce, radishes, cilantro, purple onions and a squeeze of lime juice and a drizzle of olive oil.

PAPA'S BARBECUE GOAT (OR BARBADO), TEXAS-STYL

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 25 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Mexican Meats

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 lb Goat or barbado
2 Tb Salt
4 garlic cloves
3 chipotle in adobo
1 tb Black pepper
1 t Cumin (approximately)
BARBECUE SAUCE
3/4 c Sugar (or to taste)
1/2 Southwest Spicy mustard
1/4 Apple cider vinegar
1 t Salt
1 t Black pepper

Process salt, chipotle, garlic and black pepper and cumin. Rub
meat generously. Cook
slowly on grill 2 hours (or less depending on cut of
meat). Be sure meat is
well above fire (at least 20 to 24 inches). Meat may
be brushed with cooking
oil occasionally to prevent dryness. While meat cooks
prepare sauce. At least 30 minutes before removing
from fire; brush meat with sauce so it will
“set”. Continue cooking and turn the meat often,
brushing on sauce at every
turn.

If you ever have the opportunity to try goat I would recommend it. It has wonderful flavor.

Enjoy!

Watermelon

2011-07-07T04:34:00.000-07:00

In the past I have stayed away from buying watermelon because with it being Frank and I we would tire of it before we could eat the whole thing.

Well no more-this past week I have made a Watermelon Pie and a Watermelon Upside Down Cake-it is amazing the different flavors and textures watermelon can take on.

In the pie you only used the juice of the watermelon and it wasn't baked. In the upside down cake you chunked up the watermelon and baked it as usual. The watermelon took on a baked apple texture and combine amazingly with the butter and brown sugar glaze the was created for the top of the cake.

Enjoy your watermelon the way you normally would-but don't hesitate to try something different with it who knows what you might discover!

Round 2 of Homemade Siracha!

2011-07-06T06:35:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I started another batch of the homemade siracha-I originally made this a few months ago and posted the recipe.

This batch is made soley with dried thai chili peppers that we roasted on the grill....

It will be done on Sunday-I will update then.

I do know it smells awesome right now.

Yum!!!!

2011-06-29T10:18:00.001-07:00

My mixed lettuce from the garden is finally ready and I am really enjoying my salad with radishes and greens from the garden topped with chickpeas and a few onions with a spicy southwest dressing!

MMMMMMMMMMMM-love this time of year!

Enjoy

Finally harvesting from the garden

2011-06-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

We have gotten some great radishes from the garden-but one of the varieties did not develop into actual radishes.

So what to do with all the radish greens? Funny you should ask---

Tonight I am going to make sauteed radish greens with a little garlic, onion and then I found a recipe that made a dressing with Siracha, lemon juice and olive oil.

Sounds interesting enough to me.

Anyone else ever made radish greens???

Second Planting Completed

2011-06-07T05:46:00.000-07:00

The weather this Spring has been not so user friendly for our gardens. This caused me to have to purchase 40 tomato plants and 40 pepper plants this past weekend. All of the plants that I started from seed did not survive the windy conditions that have occurred almost everyday since I planted them a few weeks ago.

It is dissapointing that the original plants did not make it-but hopefully I will have better luck next year!

Hope all of your gardens are progressing nicely!

Rainy and Nasty this last weekend....what to do????

2011-05-24T04:28:00.000-07:00

Well if you are like me-which I can hear many people saying..there is no one like you Becky!

Anyhow, when it is nasty outside and I really don't feel like doing much else-the Food Channel is turned on. My luck Triple D was on which is one of my favorites. I am not sure where he was but they made this Bacon and Blue Cheese Burger which looked amazing.

Frank and I tried our hand at it last night. For 4 people you need 1 pound of burger, 8 pieces of bacon and about a 1/2 to 3/4 cup blue cheese. The surprise item that you need is 4 large mouth jar rings!

Arrange the 4 rings on a cookie sheet like it would be positioned on a jar-the lip on the top. Cut 2 strips of bacon per burger into small pieces and press into the ring. Next top it is blue cheese to essentially cover the bacon-press tightly.

Slowly remove ring and then form a 1/4 pound seasoned burger over the bacon/blue cheese, pressing gently to mold them together.

Refrigerate for a couple of hours. Then either in a fry pan or on a blackening pan on the grill-get the pan screaming hot and put bacon side down and fry until crisp-most of the cooking of the burger will be done on this first side as you need to be sure everything holds together.

Flip and fry until burger is your desired doneness.

I have to say I have created lots of burgers over the years but this one has to be the most unique and it is made with stuff I use all the time-you just gotta try it. Why not this weekend for Memorial Day!

Enjoy

First Rhubarb!

2011-05-18T05:47:00.000-07:00

Harvested the first batch of rhubarb yesterday and this morning I have a quick Rhubarb and pineapple orange juice sauce cooking that I will be serving over a pillow of puffed pastry and topped with a little whipped cream!

Can't wait until I am done eating dinner tonight so I can enjoy it.

Will be making the roasted rhubarb vinaigrette this weekend-talk about yummy!

Enjoy

Finally!

2011-05-17T05:20:00.000-07:00

Minnesota weather has not been very cooperative this Spring. However, it appears we may have turned the corner and my gardens are tilled and ready for some compost and chicken goodness which will then lead to another tilling. But the good news is that by this weekend, I will have my gardens planted!

Hopefully everyone is in the same boat and is able to proceed with the start of their gardening season.

Pictures will be forthcoming!

Chive Egg Noodles

2011-04-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided that I would try my hand at making homemade egg noodles. My Mom made them all the time while I was growing up but for some reason I have never attempted them.

I had to incorporate the chives as they are the only thing growing in my gardens and I am very anxious to have other things in the garden! If only the weather would cooperate.

Once completed I put the egg noodles into a Turkey Vegetable Soup and served it with Gorgonzola Cheese toasts.

I am sharing a few pictures-Enjoy

Additional Ciabatta Information

2011-04-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

Techinical difficulties prevented me from attaching the link for the recipe-so here it is www.startribune.com/taste

Ciabatta Bread Update

2011-04-15T05:13:00.000-07:00

Well I have to say the Ciabatta bread was awesome!

After the rise time of about 18 hours you take the cover off the bowl and are greeted by this wonderful aroma-which gets even better when you are baking the bread!

Last night I sauteed some mixed greens with a little garlic and some homemade Sriracha and combined that with some provoline cheese to make a wonderful pannini!

I would highly suggest that you check out the recipe at the link given.

Enjoy

Next Recipe Testing Out of Taste Section of Newspaper

2011-04-13T05:59:00.000-07:00

On this rainy blustery day, I have decided to take on the next recipe that caught my eye in the Taste section of the paper.

This time it is no need Ciabatta! I have attempted the No Knead breads before and although they have great flavor, they still do not necessarily come out like the artisan breads that were promised.

So this Ciabatta bread is a 2 day process-here I go.

Check back in a day or so for the results!

Sriracha Hot Chile Paste/Sauce-Completed!

2011-04-12T04:57:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a week and a day since I started making the homemade Sriracha and after the taste test last night with our dinner I would have to say, I will definately make it again with a few little tweaks! I am providing you with the recipe the way I made it and afterwards I will mention my tweaks for the next time.

2 oz dried japanese chiles
3/4 lb fresh fresno chiles
3 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
water as needed

In a food processor take all the chiles and additional ingredients excluding the vinegar and water. Process to a paste like consistency. Put this mixture in a jar and cover with a lid. For the next 7 days leave this jar sit on the counter and stir daily.

At the end of 7 days, put the mixture into a saucepan and add the vinegar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Allow to cool and transfer to a food processor once again. Process until very smooth-adding additional vinegar or water as needed to allow mixture to process properly.

Once processed mixture should be strained either thru cheese cloth or fine seive.

Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly.

Now given the recipe and the way mine turned out here are some additional tidbits for you.

We tasted both the "sauce" and "paste" the sauce is what you are supposed to keep and the paste is all the seeds and such that doesn't get blended. Anyhow, as with the Jalapeno Sauce that I made over a year ago-I find uses for both the sauce and the paste.

I will add additional garlic the next time as I don't think it has as much garlic flavor as the original Sriracha.

I also think I went a little heavy on the vinegar for my taste-I added additional vinegar during final processing to allow it to move more freely in the food processor-next time I would use water instead.

Bottom line it is awesome and well worth the week wait time!

Enjoy and please if you try this recipe give me your opinion.

Sriracha Hot Chile Paste/Sauce

2011-04-04T05:17:00.000-07:00

This is a condiment that you see almost everywhere right now. In my opinion it is the best universal hot sauce condiment available. It add great heat as well as flavor.

So a few weeks ago when the Taste Section of the Star Tribune ran an article about making your own Sriracha I decided I had to try it.

Today I started the 7 day fermentation process.

So at this point.......you will have to stay tuned for at least a week to see if it is worth the time to make your own or if it is one item that is better to be bought at the store!

Pizza Obsessed

2011-03-31T04:33:00.000-07:00

This week it was Venison Fajita Pizza, last week it was Stuffed Pizza, the week before it was just a straight up Pepperoni and Sausage. I do believe I am obsessed with making pizza.

In this picture is our Venison Fajita Pizza. I used venison, poblano peppers, onions, a jalapeno and fajita seasoning and then quick grilled them all to get some char on and used reduced salsa as the "sauce"!

Goes to show you, you can make a pizza out of anything.

Enjoy a pizza today and let me know what you strangest ingredient was that you put on a pizza

Pork and Mushroom Ragu

2011-03-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well if I do say so myself this recipe I created last night was very very tasty!

Here is my recipe-it takes awhile to get the ultimate flavor so plan ahead. Trust me you will decide that eventhough it takes a little planning it is well worth it.

Pork and Mushroom Ragu
3 slices of bacon
½ medium onion chopped
3 garlic cloves chopped
½ cup chopped celery
½ pound pork shoulder cut into ¼ inch pieces
½ cup red wine
8 Dehydrated Portobello mushrooms-rehydrated save the liquid
14 ½ oz tomatoes with Italian seasonings
½ tsp sage
1 bayleaf
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
1 jalapeno chopped
4 morel mushrooms chopped (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Fry bacon in kettle. When bacon is crisp, remove from kettle and add pork-brown this until good color is obtained. Add onion, celery and garlic. Once these have become soft add the wine to deglaze the pan.
Meanwhile, put Portobello mushrooms in a small pan. Add about 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for about 10 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender. Remove the mushrooms from the liquid-reserving and chop the mushrooms roughly.
Once the wine is absorbed add the tomatoes, broth and mushroom juice. Allow this to heat thru and add the sage, bayleaf, jalapeno, mushrooms and tomato paste. Stir to incorporate all ingredients. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
At this point you will want to simmer this for at least 2 hour reducing the sauce up to ½. The longer you simmer the more intense flavor you will achieve.
Right before serving crumble bacon into sauce and add in morels if you are using them.
Serve over fettuccini.

Enjoy!

Spring Starts Today

2011-03-20T08:15:00.001-07:00

Spring starts tonight at 6:21 pm-however, it doesn't feel like spring out today. It is rainy and very windy. So I guess that means we won't be grilling to celebrate Spring instead we will have a big plate of pasta. I am creating a pasta dish tonight with pork, bacon and mushrooms with a slow cooked red sauce-still using the tomatoes from the garden from last year.

If the recipe turns out I will post tomorrow!

One sign of spring, I will be planting all my seeds this week for my garden-I can't wait until I am able to plant them in the garden!

Enjoy

Raw Almonds

2011-03-16T06:19:00.000-07:00

So a friend gives you fresh raw almonds-what would you do?

Well I received about 4 cups of raw almonds and I decided to make my own spiced nuts and what an easy fun project-almost like an artist with a blank canvas!

I created my own spice mixture using some left over chili seasoning, hot chili powder, black and red pepper, fajita seasoning and little sugar and salt.

You line a baking sheet with foil-then take you almonds and put them in a large bowl and sprinkle with a tablespoon of vegetable oil per every two cups. Then sprinkle the seasoning mixture over the almonds until you can see the flecks of flavor on every almond.

Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 10 minutes toss almonds and then bake 5 minutes at a time until the nuts get brown-be sure to toss them every 5 minutes. This may take up to 30 minutes.

Let them cool and enjoy the wonderful artful almonds that you created!

Asparagus!

2011-03-10T04:46:00.001-08:00

A wonderful sign of Spring.

Get some roast it and enjoy!!!!!!!

Success!

2011-03-06T09:41:00.000-08:00

Well the weigh in was completed on Friday and Frank lost 31 pounds in 9 weeks!

He is amazing-but I have to take some of the credit too-he did all the tough working out-and I got to do what I love most, cooking the food that provides enjoyment to those that eat it!

Another year in the books with the weight loss challenge and the message that I take out of it this year-portion control, fruit and lots and lots of greens!

I am so very proud of my husband!

It's Over!

2011-03-04T04:10:00.001-08:00

Today is weigh in day for Frank's weightloss challenge-so what did I do? I got up and made a recipe that I found during the challenge-Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies! The only switch up is that I am making it Peanut Butter chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies.

Sounds sinful-I will let you know how they taste!

Enjoy

Not your Mom/Grandma's Pressure Cooker

2011-03-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of my Fagor Electric 3 in 1!

This wonderful appliance is a rice cooker, slow cooker and a pressure cooker all in one.

In the old days the pressure cookers that were used on stovetop involved alot of guess work and in my opinion luck! Making sure it was up to the pressure you needed and then timing it and releasing the pressure manually-if you dared!

This wonder does all of this for you and can I tell you it makes some of the best meals you can imagine in under 1 hour.

A few years back my stove was broken during the holiday season-I cooked everything in my pressure cooker from soup to dessert. It was awesome.

Here is one of my favorite meals-which I can gaurantee you, you will not find this recipe in any of the old fashioned pressure cooker cook books.

Cheese Stuffed Calamari in Tomato Sauce

Sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion-chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Filling
4 oz calamari tentacles, finely chopped
2/3 cup bread crumbs
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp fresh basil
1 garlic clove crushed
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

12 large calamari bodies
For the sauce: in a 5-7 quart pressure cooker, heat the oil. Add the onion and garlic. Cook stirring often until the onion begins to soften, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes and hot pepper.

Lock the lid in place. Bring to high pressure and cook for 10 minutes. Quick release the pressure and open the lid.

Meanwhile make the filling: In a medium bowl combine the chopped calamari tentacles, bread crumbs, ricotta, parmesan, basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Loosely stuff the calamari bodies with the filling (fingers work better than a spoon), leaving some room for expansion, and close the openings with wooden toothpicks. Pinching the openings closed quickly rinse off any filling on the outsides of the stuffed calamari under running cold water.

Place the stuffed calamari in the sauce. Lock the lid in place. Return to high pressure and cook for 15 minutes. Allow pressure to release on it's own.

Serve calamari and sauce in bowls sprinkled with fresh basil and french bread.

Enjoy this recipe and please let me know what experiences you have had with pressure cookers.

One week and counting......

2011-02-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

We are in the final week of the weight loss challenge! My mind is racing as to what I am going to make when we are done with this portion of the winter (9 weeks total)!

All I think about is pizza, pasta and fresh baked bread all of which we have pretty much gone without over the last 8 weeks! I know you are saying to yourself-is that possible? Yes I guess it is-but not neccesarily enjoyable.

Don't get me wrong I am definately noticing the difference in how things are fitting and I am getting compliments-which is awesome........but bring on the goodness! I will do a count down this week and then wait for next weekend and I will do the rundown of ALL the bad things we eat!

Keep your fingers crossed Frank is at the fish shack this weekend with his brothers which is a true test on how he will eat and where is weight will go in 3 days away.......

Wonderfully Flavorful New Sidedish!

2011-02-14T05:47:00.000-08:00

In the paper this past week there was a recipe for Spinach in Browned Butter-now remember we are still on the weight loss challenge and anything that has butter in it sounds or so naughty!

But this dish as it was presented was only 156 calories per serving-I added a few things that would add a little bit in the calorie counter-but nothing that put it over the top. Here is my version of Spinach in Browned Butter

2 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup rough chopped oyster mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 pound spinach
salt and pepper to taste
2 hard boiled eggs chopped
1 small lemon cut into wedges for serving

Heat butter in large saute pan-as it starts to brown at the mushrooms and saute them for a couple of minutes until they take on some color. Then add the chopped garlic and saute for a minute or so. Add the spinach and wilt. Season with salt and pepper and serve topped with the hard boiled eggs that have been chopped.

Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing on dish as being served.

Try this one and I can promise you will become a huge fan!

Enjoy

Almost Famous!

2011-02-09T04:34:00.000-08:00

Check out the article in yesterday's Star Tribune-I was interviewed about a month ago about our winter cooking on our Big Green Egg-unfortunately our schedules didn't work out and we didn't get featured in the pictures!

Just reading the article makes me anxious for the weekend when it is supposed to be good and warm and we will fire up the old green egg!

Enjoy

Chicken Larb or Lettuce Cups from P.F. Changs or Pei Wei??

2011-01-21T04:56:00.000-08:00

I hope you have all had the opportunity to enjoy the lettuce cups the P.F. Changs and Pei Wei serve. They are awesome-however, I would have to say they have numerous more calories then the following recipe that I found in my latest Cooking Light Magazine!

The recipe is for Chicken Larb-not the most appetizing name for something but don't let that stop you.

2 Tbsp Red curry paste
1 pound chicken breast
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/3 c chopped english cucumber
1/4 c shallots
3 Tbsp cilantro
2 Tbsp lime juice
8 cabbage leaves

Combine curry paste, chicken and salt in a food processor, process until smooth. Het a large skillet. Add oil to the pan and saute chicken mixture for about 6 minutes being sure to break up the chicken into very small pieces. Cook until crumbly and chicken is cooked. Remove chicken from pan add cucmber and next 3 ingredients-heat this thru and then add chicken back to pan.

Divide mixture thru 8 cabbage leaves, serving size is two leaves.

This serving is 174 calories!

I substituted chopped broccoli for the cucumber and it was extremely tasty-also you could use any large leafy lettuce for serving cups.

Another tip is to top with a little chili paste or asian hot sauce.

Enjoy this one-it is definately a keeper

Nothing Fancy but OOOh is it Tasty

2011-01-19T03:51:00.000-08:00

On the road to a lighter me I am always looking for new ways to serve veggies and lots of them.

My latest "trick" is to roast cauliflower and garlic until golden brown.

In a food processor combine the above with seasonings of choice, a little chicken stock and process until smooth or slightly chunky whatever way you like your mashed potatoes!

It is an awesome way to enjoy the texture of mashed potatoes without the calories!

The possibilities are endless-try it!

Enjoy

Chicken Corn Tortilla Soup

2011-01-17T09:58:00.000-08:00

So we are in the beginning phase of the Weight Loss Challenge and I was really hungry for my Chicken Tortilla Soup-but the way I normally make it is with lots of tortilla chips sauted with my veggies and of course that is not the greatest way to start a soup if you are looking to trim calories. Plus I wanted to get more veggies in the soup.

So the following is the recipe I came up with.

¼ large yellow and orange bell pepper
½ large onion
1 large jalapeno
4-5 cloves of garlic
1 ½ cup roasted corn
2 14 ½ oz cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes
2-3 cups cooked chicken
6-8 cups broth
3-4 Tbsp cornmeal
1 Tbsp fajita seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400. Place peppers and onion on large cookie sheet and roast until bubbly and brown. Remove from oven and put peppers in plastic bag to sweat the skins off.
When peppers are cool enough to handle remove skins and chop onions and peppers.
In large soup kettle put a little oil-add onions, peppers and garlic. Saute these for about 5 minutes at medium high. Season with salt and pepper. Add cornmeal and stir to incorporate into veggies. Continue to sauté until the cornmeal begins to brown. This will take 5-7 minutes.
At this point add about 1 cup of broth stirring to be sure there are no clumps. Add another cup of broth and cook for a minute or two. Now add tomatoes and corn and fajita seasoning.
Lower heat to simmer and let this cook for at least 15 minutes, stirring a couple of times. It should be quite thick at this point.
Add another couple cups of broth and stir to incorporate. Add chicken and see what the consistency is after chicken in incorporated. This is where you determine how thick you want your soup and add the additional broth as you wish.
It is best to allow this soup to gently simmer for at least an hour prior to serving.

Just a few notes-cornmeal is only 90 calories for 3 tablespoon's compared to about 280 calories for 16 tortilla chips which is probably close to what I would normally use.

Plus this recipe has corn and lots of tomatoes in it where my other soup does not.

This recipe makes approximately 8 servings-it depends on how much broth you end up adding.

After dinner last night Frank rated this one in the top 3 of soups that I have made. I must agree it is a very tasty dish.

Enjoy

Sorry so long since I have posted!

2011-01-10T12:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas and New Year's have come and gone-it is hard to believe that it is already the 10th of January!

Today we start our weight loss challenge program-hopefully we are as successful this year as last. I lost 12 pounds and Frank lost 25 all in 8 weeks. Not to mention that Frank won the challenge at his work and won over $200.

Bring it on is all I have to say.

So in the week's to come I will again be trying to reinvent food that we love to eat but isn't necessarily that good for us.

Tonight we are starting off with Oven baked perch with a medley of peppers stir fry over brown rice.

Enjoy

Christmas Hustle and Bustle

2010-12-27T06:37:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas! Our's was wonderful.

Our Christmas Dinner was amazing Pheasant Stuffed Peppers with Mushroom Risotto-I will share this recipe later in the week as right now I am in the middle of creating for tonight's festivities!

Tonight is:
Scottiglia(Medley of Meats) with Potato Cheese Gnocci
then tomorrow night it is
Arroz con Pollo
I just love the Holidays!

Enjoy

Becky's In Home Bistro New Low Calorie Lunch Program

2010-12-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

It is not often that I refer readers of my blog to my Personal Chef Business and website, but today I am going to!

I have begun a new program that I am calling the Low Calorie Lunch Program.

Do you have a couple of friends that you have been chatting with about eating healthier in the New Year?

Well if so, check out www.beckysinhombistro.com for details!

Looking forward to hearing from you

An Ingenious Gift to Give

2010-12-13T06:23:00.000-08:00

Do you ever look at something in your fridge an wonder-how long has that been in here? Well instead of guessing this gadget maybe for you or a loved one on your Christmas list.

It is a Digital Day Counter. You put it on an item in your fridge or any item in your house that should be kept track of and it automatically counts days for you.

Check it out at the link above. You get 2 of them for $8!

A unique gift for that special someone on your list!

Worst Snow Storm of Century=Cookie Baking

2010-12-11T13:22:00.000-08:00

Well life give you lots and lots and lots of snow you make Christmas Cookies is what I say!

So today we made a double batch of Chewy Molasses Cookies with the Gingerbread Marshmallows and Chocolate and White Chocolate bark with Sweet/Salty Cajun Trail Mix on it.

Check out the pictures! They both turned out pretty tasty-actually very tasty!

Had to share the Grinch picture as Frank is kinda getting freaked out with it sitting on the table-He says it Keeps staring at him!!!!!!

Enjoy

Another Interesting Creation-Appetizer Idea Alert

2010-12-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

Holiday entertaining can get expensive and sometimes I think we get so caught up in finding the perfect recipe for each event that we don't allow ourselves to "create" that perfect food item-whether it be a salad, soup or appetizer! Here is one that I came up with the other night when we had friends over and I decided at the last minute that I probably should have an appetizer.

Name of this one is still in the works-let's go with Phyllo Black Bean Pillows for right now.

This recipe makes enough for 4 people

8 sheets of phyllo dough
1 stick of melted butter
1 cup feta cheese-room temp
1/2 cup black beans rinsed and drained
1/2 cup corn-thawed if frozen
1/4 large onion grated
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 tsp cumin
crushed red pepper to taste

Filling

Combine feta cheese and black beans-mash slightly to combine well. Grate onion into this mixture. Add corn, egg and seasonings. Stir well to combine all ingredients.

Assembly

Lay on sheet of phyllo out on counter-paint lightly with melted butter. Top with another sheet and repeat butter. Take a heaping tablespoon (or 1/8 of the mixture) and place it in the middle bottom of the phyllo about 2 inches from the edge.

Fold the bottom edge up then each side and roll almost like and egg roll. Place on sprayed cookie sheet with seam side up.

Repeat this for 7 more times. Brush any leftover butter on tops and sides of each roll.

Bake in 375 degree oven until golden brown and flaky-about 20-30 minutes.

I asked my guests to critique this "recipe" as I just threw it together-it was well liked by everyone-possibly a drizzle of something on the top or something to dip it in-haven't really come up with anything at this point to dip or drizzle but maybe because I liked them just the way they were.

I have to say-by no means was this a perfect appetizer, but I did take pride in creating it!

Try this the next time you entertain and let me know the results!

Enjoy

More baking this weekend so stay tuned-possibly pictures this time!

Com

Christmas Cookie Update

2010-12-06T05:28:00.000-08:00

Snickerdoodles were of course fabulous!

Chocolate cookies with Heath Bit Centers-wonderfully crunchy with the surprise center-definately a keeper!

Hot and Sassy cookies look wonderful and taste very good=except not as spicy as I was thinking they would be. You definately get heat after the fact but not alot. But I will most likely make them again.

Hope everyone is enjoying this time of the year with the baking and cooking in general!

Enjoy

Christmas Cookies !!!!!!!!

2010-12-05T08:04:00.001-08:00

We decided this morning was a perfect day to make some Christmas cookies so e are making a few different kinds.

Traditionally one of our favorites are Snickerdoodles so that is a MUST!

Then we go to non traditional as neither one of us wanted to go to the grocery store for additional ingredients-so......

Chocolate Cookies with heath bit centers
and
Hot & Sassy Peanut Butter Buds-this recipe was in the local paper this past week-it is my first attempt at hot and sweet cookies (remember the bacon toffee???) Anyhow, these cookies call for cayenne pepper in dough and rolled in a sugar cayenne mixture. Then baked and topped with a chocolate bar infused with chile-well I didn't have that on hand so we will be adding some chipotle in adobo to the chocolate frosting-then these are drizzled with a white chocolate!

So off I go to making and baking-I will update you all on the creations on improvisations!!!!

Comfort Food Time of Year

2010-11-22T05:49:00.000-08:00

This past weekend the whole comfort food movement really set in for me.

I turned to a recipe that I submitted to a recipe contest for Thai Kitchen-that is why you will see Thai Kitchen products mentioned thruout the recipe-feel free to use whatever brand you have on hand. Also, I use green curry but if you don't like things that spicy you can use either red or yellow whatever your preference is. I am telling you that this is a recipe that will become your favorite when you are looking for some curry and don't have all the fancy ingredients that some of the recipes call for.

Green Curry Meatloaf Surprise
Curry meets down home cooking and provides a good kick!
Servings: 4

1 pound(s) red potato
3 tablespoon(s) salt
1 14 1/2 oz.Thai Kitchen Coconut milk light, reserve other half of can
2garlic
2 tablespoon(s) Thai Kitchen Green curry paste
½ tablespoon(s) brown sugar
1 tablespoon(s) Thai Kitchen fish sauce
1/2 cup(s) chicken broth
1/8 cup(s) basil leaf fresh
1 tablespoon(s) salt or to taste
2 green onions, chopped

MEATLOAF INGREDIENTS
2 teaspoon(s) oil
1/2 celery stalk chopped
1 small onion chopped
½ cup(s) bread crumbs
2 tablespoon(s) sugar
1/4 cup(s) soy sauce
1/4 cup(s) carrot,
1 pound(s) ground beef
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon(s) mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon(s) ginger root, freshly grated
1 cup(s) Cheddar cheese, grated
2 tablespoon(s) Goat cheese

Dice potatoes with skins on and place in pot with water and salt. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer until fork tender. Drain and return to pot to allow additional moisture to cook out.

Meanwhile in a saucepan combine 1 /2 of the coconut milk, garlic, and green curry paste. Bring to a boil over high heat and reduce the heat to medium and simmer until most of the liquid evaporates about 10 minutes. There should be some sizzling while curry paste is frying. Add brown sugar, fish sauce and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat
and keep sauce warm until potatoes are ready.

Mash potatoes with large spoon or potato masher. Once slightly mashed add basil and pour green curry sauce in a little
at a time. Until all is combined. Then fold in green onions.

Set aside to cool

Meatloaf recipe:

Saute onion and celery in oil until soft. Let cool.

Mix onion, celery and all other ingredients together.

Assembly

Combine remaining coconut milk, cheddar cheese and goat cheese and set aside.

Take meat mixture and line pan with it. Top with 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Top with potato mixture and then remaining
cheese mixture.

Bake at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes.

I will be going curry for this Thanksgiving also-Tandoori Cornish Game Hens, Curried Basmati Rice and oh ya I forgot Sweet Potato Parsnip Soup with Pumpkin Pie Parfaits for dessert. Can't wait to try out all these recipes with Katie!!!

Enjoy

National Bundt Pan Day

2010-11-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

Since today is National Bundt Pan Day I decided I wanted to make a bundt cake-but I didn't have all of the ingredients for my favorite Rum Cake-wow is that baby tasty! Lots and Lots and Lots of rum!!!!!!

So I searched for bundt cake recipes and came up with Glazed Gingerbread Cake.

It is baking as we speak and I can't wait to bust into it tonight!

Any thoughts on your favorite bundt cake?

Update on Latest Recipe Creation

2010-11-15T04:26:00.000-08:00

Ok-so I ended up making a Twice Baked Sweet Potato and Squash Casserole on Saturday.

It was very tasty however, before I share the recipe I need to tweek things a little. To give you a little tease I used blue cheese, sage and proscuitto with a little havarti melted on the top!

I did enjoy it but it is not quite perfected-stay tuned..........

Snow Snow Snow=Creative Cooking

2010-11-13T14:15:00.000-08:00

It has been snowing since late last night-it is very pretty outside but what this means is that my girlfriends that were supposed to come over for a sleep over which we would have had lots of good food, good company and oh of course good drinks-well they couldn't make it!

So.....I am here by myself with a butternut squash and a sweet potato.

I am going to create a recipe this evening and will share it with you tomorrow-that is if it is worth sharing.

Hope anyone that is reading this is home safe and is enjoying a wonderful evening and of course good food and a beverage with a loved one or two.

Enjoy!

Results of Deer Hunting Opener

2010-11-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

Frank was fortunate to get a big 11 point buck this past weekend. That means tonight we will be having grilled venison heart!

I will simply season it with garlic salt and pepper with a little olive oil. As a side I will make North Dakota potatoes made into a gratin with spinach and havarti cheese.

Sounds like a wonderful fall meal to me.

Enjoy!

Deer Hunting Opener This Weekend

2010-11-02T04:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend is deer hunting opener and strangely enough for me that means that I cook 2 of my favorite guilty pleasures.....Chicken tenders and mac and cheese. Now over the years this has changed alot I admit I used to get the boxed mac and cheese and buy the frozen chicken tenders! Now I either find new and interesting recipes to make these things or I create my own recipe.

If you are looking for something food related and different to do this weekend-check out a couple of these food related movies.

Julie and Julia
No Reservations

Not sure if you will like them? Check out this blog where both of them are reviewed as well as a short trailer for you to watch! cineplexed.blogspot.com

Enjoy

Favorite Cookbook in Use Today

2010-10-31T10:14:00.000-07:00

For some reason it felt like a great day to make some type of gumbo or deep rich soup-so I pulled out one of my favorite cookbooks-Justin Wilson's Homegrown Louisiana Cookin.

Decided on Mock Turtle Soup with a Cajun Bread for dunkin!

One hour and 15 minutes in and my roux is just about done-man I can't wait until it is time to eat as I just know this is going to be another tasty dish from Mr. Wilson. Only 5 more hours of cooking and we will be eating!!!!

Happy Halloween all-Enjoy!

Halloween Treat-Bacon Toffee

2010-10-29T05:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend being Halloween I decided that I would pull out a recipe that I have been wanting to try for awhile now-Bacon toffee! Frank is very suspect but what is there not to like-bacon, butter and sugar sounds fantastic to me.

Recipe wouldn't be simpler either:

1/2 pound bacon
1 stick butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
salt

Fry bacon-cool on paper towels to remove excess grease and then chop into small pieces.

Put water, butter, sugar and pinch of salt in saucepan over medium high heat. Stir constantly until water has boiled off (the mixture will get very bubbly/frothy first)and the mixture turns a deep golden tan color.

Remove from heat stif in bacon pieces and quickly spread toffee on a silpat or well oiled baking sheet.

Let cool and break into pieces.

I will most likely add some chili pepper flakes to mine!

Enjoy

Horseradish harvest 2010

2010-10-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

Today was the day we set aside to dig our horseradish, clean it, grind it and get it in jars! Wow what a bumper crop we had this year 14 pints!

I am sharing some pictures with you in case you aren't familiar with the process. The big pile of green leaves is what the plant portion grows like, the blue bin is full of the root end that gets thrown back in the dirt along with all the leaves and tiny roots. The yellow bowl is filled with our roots that will get ground up!

It is great to have this project done as the grinding gets very very potent smelling-it is like the strongest onion times 100!

Our initial taste test gave wonderful results-I would say our most flavorful harvest to date!

Uncle Bill would definately be jealous of this harvest if he were still with us!

Fun Night Tonight!

2010-10-22T04:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am having my girlfriends from highschool over. This weekend is our 25th class reunion and we decided that we needed to get together to honor this and also to catch up!

I am very excited to share with them the following menu:

Autumn Sangria-Thanks St. Paul Grill for this creation-I only hope mine is as good!
Cheese and crackers
Asian Pork Sliders
Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup
Fruit Salsa with cinnamon chips
Creme Catalana

All of this sounds so good-but I gotta get to work making it!

Enjoy

P.S. tomorrow is horseradish harvest day-will be lots of tears shed! More on that tomorrow

This is a good one!

2010-10-21T06:17:00.001-07:00

Had to share this recipe creation with everyone as if I do say so myself this is one that is a keeper!
Chocolate Banana cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
1 ½ cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
½ cup Crisco-butter flavored
2 eggs
1 ½ cups mashed bananas
2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp honey
¼ cup cocoa
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9 x 13 pan. Mix together sugar, sour cream and Crisco. Mix in eggs. Next add mashed bananas and vanilla. Scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients mixing to be sure all in incorporated. Spread into the prepared pan. Bake 25-35 minutes until the middle of the cake is done. Set aside to cool.
FROSTING
¼ cup margarine
¼ cup peanut butter
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
3 tbsp milk
In a small saucepan melt the butter and peanut butter. Whisk in the sugar until incorporated. Slowly add milk only adding what is needed for the consistency that you want.

Poke holes in cake with toothpick or metal skewer making sure holes are evenly distributed. Pour the frosting over the cake making sure frosting soaks into the holes.

Enjoy this one!

Fun Food Facts

2010-10-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you should seperate your bananna's when you get them home from the store-if you they will not ripen as fast.

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating-if a pepper has 4 bumps on the bottom they are said to be better for cooking.

Lastly, add a teaspoon of water to the fry pan when browning ground beef-this will help to pull the grease away from the meat.

Does anyone else have any fun food facts to share????

Salsa Day

2010-10-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

Today was the day that I told myself I would get our salsa supply made for the year. After numerous hours of cooking the wonderful salsa I have canned 14 quarts and 5 pints.

MMMMMM I wonder if that will be enough.

Considering that I have 14 quarts and 4 gallons of tomatoes in the freezer to be used for spaghetti etc I would hope we would be able to have enough tomato product from the garden to keep us fed this winter.

Oh wait tomorrow I will be making ketchup-yet one more tomato product!!!!

Gotta love fall!!!!

Enjoy

Jalapeno's, Jalapeno's Jalapeno's

2010-10-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

Since I have been back from NOrth Dakota I have been creating ways to use all of the hundreds of jalapeno's that I grew this year in the garden. This recipe combined the jalapeno's and one of our homegrown chickens! It was absoluteley fabulous.

Jalapeno Chicken Marinade

½ medium onion
1 ½ jalapeno
4 garlic cloves
1 whole chicken
3 tbsp mayo
2 tbsp worchestshire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
¼ cup water

Grate onion, jalapeno and garlic. Combine all ingredients except the chicken. Once all is combined, put chicken in large Ziploc bag and be sure complete chicken is covered with marinade. Marinade for at least 3 hours or up to 24.

Roast or grill as usual.

Try this recipe you won't be dissapointed! If you don't have a whole chicken, don't worry use it on legs, thighs or even try it on something other than chicken!

Enjoy

Fall is Here-Gardening is drawing to an end!

2010-10-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

Today is the day-I start pulling up the garden! It is a sad day as far as I am concerned. The one good thing-it is going to be a wonderful day sunny and 70 degrees!

After today most likely the only thing left in the garden will be the horseradish-that will be dug in the next week or so.

I hope with the weather forecast that everyone is out taking advantage of the opportunity to enjoy the weather while preparing for the upcoming winter!

Enjoy the day

Back Home

2010-10-04T07:50:00.001-07:00

Wow did this past month fly by! I am home from Potato Harvest and I know that I didn't post as often as I was planning on-let me just say that everyday was an adventure that I will carry with me.

Now that I am home it will be back to foody stuff again-I need a change of pace from burgers and breakfast burrito's!

Thanks to all my friends in North Dakota for making this year another successful year!

Pictures of a few of our wonderful dinners that we made while I was in North Dakota will be forthcoming.

Almost 1 week down

2010-09-15T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well here it is wednesday and I have cooked for 6 days-some shortened due to weather but all in all it has been a good harvest!

Lots of burgers being made and Chevvo specials for breakfast!

For the most part things are just rolling along-not too many bad things!

I will post again soon-hope everyone is well

Latest Harvest News

2010-09-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

Today is Wednesday-originally this was the estimated day I would start cooking-well that was before 2 plus inches of rain on Monday! Much more on the way.

We have been enjoying the bounty of Lynn's garden-green curry, Curried Carrot soup and tonight some type of Jalapeno Shrimp. Lots of goodness to be had!

Enjoying things so far I just hope I can get to work sooonnnnn!!!!

Potato Harvest Here I Come

2010-09-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

It is that time of the year again where I pack just about everything I own and move to North Dakota to run a cook shack for the potato harvest! This year I will be leaving on Sunday the 5th of September.

During harvest I probably won't blog as much as days are very long and busy. However, I will check in as often as I can.

This being my 4th year I have said for the last 3 years I should keep a journal of the happenings during harvest-that is what you will most likely see here in the blog.

I hope you enjoy the slight change of pace-not to worry I will resume regular recipe and foody tidbits when I return sometime early October.

Enjoy and be safe

Roasted Jalapeno Hot Sauce

2010-08-23T06:16:00.000-07:00

What a bumper crop of jalapeno's this year!

Yesterday we roasted about 3 dozen good size jalapeno's and today I combined them with 3 cloves of garlic, a couple of onions about 1/2 cup vinegar and water to cover them all and cooked up for about an hour.

Once this is completed and all items are soft-blend to the consistenancy you like. You can either strain out the "chunks" or leave it chunky. If you choose to strain out the chunks-be sure to save this part as this is awesome on sandwiches, burgers or anything that you want to add some heat to.

You will want to also salt to taste.

A word of caution-depending on how hot your jalapeno's are the fumes while cooking can be very strong with the combo of heat from the peppers and the vinegar so you probably should do this with windows open!

Enjoy

Roasting Tomatoes and Peppers

2010-08-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend is a fun filled weekend-not only is it our 18th wedding anniversary on Sunday we will begin the process of making our salsa!

We begin by roasting all of the tomatoes and numerous different kinds of peppers that go into our salsa. We do this by putting them on our Big Green Egg and sort of smoke them for about an hour or so. Then they cool and go into ziploc bags and into the freezer until we have enough and then the salsa comes together at a later date with lots of garlic, fresh cilantro and all the other ingrdients!

Nothing better this time of year then this process!

Oh ya and we will also be butchering chickens and turkeys on Saturday morning if anyone wants to join us!!!!!

Good times!

Ripe Tomato Dance

2010-08-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

Today I started freezing some ripe tomatoes! It is such a great feeling to know that come December I will have home grown Italian tomatoes.

I am blanching the tomatoes to take skin off and freezing them in quart bags along with an ice cube size block of italian herbs and garlic from the garden.

Man I can taste a big old pot of Spaghetti on a freezing cold Saturday this winter-right now. That is minus the 85 degrees outside with damp floor humidity we are having right now!

Gotta love summer in Minnesota!!!

Enjoy

Chipmunks and my tomatoes

2010-08-10T05:25:00.000-07:00

Ok-I am having a battle with the chipmunks that call our yard home! We have successfully captured 2 in various ways.....but now they appear to be outsmarting us!

Last night as I was sitting and enjoying a nice glass of wine I looked out and saw one of them sitting on the edge of the garden chewing on a piece of tomato.

I am having to pick the tomatoes earlier than I would like cuz the little critters seem to like them just as they start to ripen!

If anyone has any idea's on how to get rid of them without using poisen I would appreciate the advice.

Ripe Tomato

2010-08-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

Well I just enjoyed my first ripe tomato from the garden! It was not as ripe as I would like it-but it was a juicy wonderful tomato that had to be eaten as something had decided to do a little nibble on it while still on the vine.

It was wonderful with a couple fresh eggs that I scrambled and an avocado kicker! What a breakfast that will need to take me through the whole day.

I am hoping that with our wonderful rib eye tonight that I will be able to find fresh sweet corn-we have been looking all week and no one around us has had it since Saturday.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Tired of looking at green tomatoes and not being able to use them!

2010-08-02T04:49:00.000-07:00

I am not sure why but my tomatoes are not ripening as fast as what I would like them to this year-I have yet to have one red tomato out of my garden! So yesterday being an off again on again rainy day I decided I needed to come up with a recipe to use a few green tomatoes!

Saturday night we had beef fajita's with black beans and rice-so this was the start-I was going to make enchilada's with the leftovers-I created this sauce to top the enchilada's!

Green Tomato Enchilada Sauce

4 medium green tomatoes
1 medium onion sliced thin
2/3 each of red, yellow or orange bell peppers sliced thin
2 jalapeno’s
3 large garlic cloves smashed and skins removed
1 Tbsp fajita seasoning
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
½ to ¾ cup water enough to make sauce the consistency that you want
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Variety of fresh herbs totaling 3 Tbsp chopped (chives, parsley, cilantro is what I used)
Heat oil in pan until hot throw in peppers and onions. Saute until browned-another way to achieve this is grill the veggies with the fajita seasoning on them. Once peppers and onions have browned you can add the green tomatoes that have been chunked along with the garlic. Continue to sauté this mixture until the tomatoes start to soften. Once this happens you can add in the cumin, fajita and chili powder along with some salt and pepper.
After the tomatoes have cooked for about 15 minutes you will want to add a little water and cover the pot for about 5 minutes-at this point check the tomatoes and see how soft they are. If they are soft enough to blend then you are done cooking-if not continue to cook until they are soft enough.
Just before blending the veggies add the fresh herbs-blend until sauce is smooth.

This sauce could be used to top any type of enchilada's or even pasta-it is an awesome way to use green tomatoes now if you are anxious for them to ripen or later when you have had your fill of tomatoes and it seems like the ones left on the vine will never ripen!

Enjoy

Yet Another Use for Zucchini

2010-07-29T05:37:00.000-07:00

Zucchini Bean and Cheese Burritos

Whats not to like about this recipe-you got zucchini and refried beans!

2 6 inch zucchini
4 wheat tortillas
1 cup refried beans
1 cup cheddar cheese grated
1 cup salsa

Trim zucchini and cut in half lengthwise. Steam each half cut side down until tender-about 6 minutes.

Spread 1/4 cup beans on each tortilla, place the zucchini half cut side down on top of beans. Sprinklke with 1/4 cup cheese and fold up. Place burrito cheese side down in a greased baking dish. Top with salsa and more cheese. Broil 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

This would make a wonderful lunch for the kids and a great way to get some great veggies in them without them really knowing what hit em!

Enjoy

Break from Zucchini today

2010-07-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

Wanted to share a picture with you! It was our dinner last night and usually I don't snap pictures just because-but this grilled pizza was a thing of beauty. Crab, roasted peppers and onions with a fresh herb, garlic and feta cheese sauce. I will say it again-gotta love the fresh stuff from the garden.

Hope you enjoy the picture as much as we enjoyed the pizza!

Bonus Post and recipe

2010-07-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made an old favorite salad of mine-my Mom has made this one for year's but it never hurts to share an oldy but goody!

Popcorn Salad-don't laugh its a tasty one

1 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can chopped water chestnuts
1 cup mayo
1 cup shredded cheddar
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 pound bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
6 strong cup popcorn

Mix all ingredients together except for bacon and popcorn. Add popcorn and combine-just before serving mix in bacon.

Other things that I am going to try adding-of course since everything we eat has to be spicy-how about fresh jalapeno? Or just a red pepper out of the garden?

This is a very neat way to get some veggies into the kids and let them have fun eating it since there aren't many kids that dislike popcorn.

Enjoy--not to worry for those of you looking for more zucchini recipes they are still coming.

Zucchini in dessert?????

2010-07-22T05:15:00.000-07:00

Yes I am sure most have had zucchini bread and possibly the delicious zucchini cake-but this recipe to me beats them all--Mock Apple Pie!

If you are just craving a freshly baked apple pie and of course this time of the year apples aren't ready but zucchini is plentiful-check it out!

1 9 inch double pie crust
6 cups zucchini, peeled and cut into slices
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar-packed
3 Tbsp flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350. Put one crust in bottom of 9 inch pie pan. In a medium suacepan, cook zucchini slices in water until tender. Drain well. Toss with lemon juice and set aside.

In large bowl combine sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add cooked zucchini and combine well. Pour into bottom crust, place the top crust over zucchini mixture. Pinch to seal edges and poke a few holes with a knife to allow steam to escape. Bake 45 minutes or until golden brown.

I can almost bet that if you serve this to guests and don't tell them it is zucchini they won't be able to tell the difference.

Enjoy!

Zuchinni Zuchinni Everywhere!!!

2010-07-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

So I am not sure what happened in my garden-I planted 3 plants of cantalope, 3 of acorn squash and 3 of zuchinni-well it appears that I ended up with either 6 or 8 plants of zuchinni. What does this mean? I have an tremendous amount of zuchinni.

So now I am on a mission to try new recipes to make it taste different so that we don't get sick of it-especially since Frank is not a HUGE fan!!!!!

Last night I made SPAGHETTI ALLA CARBONARA DI ZUCCHINE-it was and easy and tasty recipe and it goes as follows

5 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove peeled
3 1/2 cups 1/4 inch slices of zuchinni
2 eggs at room temp
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
12 ounces spaghetti
6 large basil leaves

Boil pasta. Heat oil in fry pan and toss in whole garlic clove. Saute for about 1 minute until it turns light brown. Toss in zuchinni and saute for about 15 minutes until golden brown.

Put eggs and parm cheese in large bowl and whisk together. When pasta is done, toss with eggs and parm-the heat from the pasta will cook the eggs. Next toss with zuchinni and torn basil leaves. Season greatly with pepper and salt to taste.

Enjoy and be sure to check back because I will be posting more recipes with zuchinni!

Yugoslavian Red Lettuce

2010-07-08T06:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the gorgeous lettuce that came from my garden!

I can't wait to dig into a big salad of this tonight for dinner! Or maybe Asian Lettuce Wraps instead with a little venison, radishes and brown rice with a spicy chili sauce!

Enjoy

Gardening Stuff

2010-07-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

I just picked my first zucchini of the year-as with everything else this seems very early.

I also cut some of the first of the Yugoslavian Red Lettuce. I don't know if it has any special flavor but boy is it pretty! I will update you have I have a chance to eat it.

I also have lots of tomatoes on the vine and a few peppers-now all they need to do is ripen and mature.

Man you gotta love summer!

Sofrito-Plentiful Garden Sauce

2010-07-01T05:25:00.000-07:00

Another use for random ingredients from your garden that I discovered this week:

Sofrito

Sofrito dresses up any dish from meat to pasta.

1 cup(s) red onion
1 cup(s) yellow onion
1 cup(s) green bell pepper
1 cup(s) red bell pepper
1/2 cup(s) parsley
1/2 cup(s) cilantro
1/3 cup(s) shallot
1/4 cup(s) white wine
1/4 cup(s) olive oil
1 garlic
1 tablespoon(s) chives
1/3 cup(s) basil, thyme, rosemary, etc
Combine all ingredients.

Pulse in food processor until almost smooth.

This can be served hot or at room temperature.

Enjoy

Cilantro!

2010-06-22T04:33:00.001-07:00

The cilantro in the garden is one herb that sometimes is hard to keep up with-it tends to bolt very quickly-here is a recipe for you to use up a good amount at one time.

Cilantro Pea Pesto

About 1 cup cilantro
about 3/4 cup peas (thawed if frozen) Hopefully you have fresh from your garden
1-2 cloves garlic depending on size of clove
about 1/4 cup feta cheese
about 1/4 cup nuts-I used almonds
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to bring it to the consistency you want it

Combine all ingredients in a food processor-slowly add olive oil until pesto comes together to the consistency you like.

Last night I served this at room temp on some pasta-right before serving I drizzled another bit of olive oil and some additional salt and pepper. Great option for a side dish especially since you are getting peas involved with no one knowing!

Enjoy

Gardening Update

2010-06-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

All the wonderful rain is helping my gardens along. I wanted to share the pics I took yesterday of the different areas that I am growing everything from purple onions to horseradish to blueberries.

Enjoy

Rain Rain go away

2010-06-16T05:11:00.000-07:00

Well they are promising nice sunny weather for the most part over the next 3-4 days. My garden has soaked up enough rain and now is looking for some warm sun. If I am able to get in the garden and work on getting weeds under control I will post some pictures of how wonderful my garden is growing later this weekend.

Hope all of your gardens are loving this weather as well!

Becky's In Home Bistro New Budget Minded Meal Menu

2010-06-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

Summer is here-or so it feels like it anyhow! I have posted my new Budget Minded Meal Menu for Summer on my website. Check it out and I ask that you pass it onto anyone you know that might be interested in my services.

Here are the menu options

Becky’s In Home Bistro is offering a special menu and pricing for those clients who want meals prepared just for them, but have a limited income. For example: parents with young children who would like their kids to eat healthy meals, but don’t have the time to prepare them or seniors who may want meals prepared for them so they don’t have to.

The meal plans are as outlined below (all include groceries):
5 entrée’s with 4 servings of each= $160
4 entrée’s with 4 servings of each=$140
3 entrée’s with 4 servings of each=$120
**There would be a $15 fuel charge for any location that is greater than 40 miles from my home in Lindstrom

Meal Choices would be made from the items below:

CASSEROLES
Cheeseburger Rice***Pork Chop and Potato Casserole***Italian Sausage & Potatoes***Swiss Chicken***Chicken Bruschetta Bake***Savory Mexican Pork Casserole***Frankfurter Divan Casserole***Pasta Pie with Kielbasa***Turkey Enchiladas
SOUPS
Corn and Potato Soup***Summer Stew***Chicken Soup with Spinach and Orzo***Salmon Corn Chowder***Summer Garden Soup

ENTRÉE AND SIDE DISH COMBINATION (Choose one from each column)

Grilled Chicken Caesar Zesty Green Beans
Thai Peanut Chicken Vegetable Medley
Corn Bread Chicken Corn & Green Chilies Casserole
Beef Steak with Red Onion Relish Zucchini Bake
Italian Style Turkey Burgers Savory Rice
Curried Turkey Burgers Swiss Potatoes
Reuben Burgers Potatoes & Green Beans

Check out my website for further information www.beckysinhomebistro.com

Big Boys Begin a New Chapter

2010-06-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well the boys are a little over 8 weeks old and today they begin a new chapter!

It was fun to have them around....

Rainy Days......

2010-06-08T05:40:00.000-07:00

Rainy days make me want to be in the kitchen-question is what to cook?

Thinking about making some big chewy chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies. MMMMMMMM.

My mind is not going beyond the cookies right now-more later!

Radishes

2010-06-01T05:06:00.000-07:00

Wow are the radishes coming fast and furious in the garden! Not complaining we are big fans of them-I tried a new recipe over the weekend that if you are a fan of them also-you absolutely have to try it.

It is radish butter
1/2 pound of radishes-trimmed and at room temp
6 Tbsp softened butter-cut into tablespoon pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Put radishes in food processor and pulse a few times to create small chunks. Remove from processor and squeeze out all liquid by using cheese cloth or a double thick papertowel.

Return to food processor and add butter one tablespoon at a time to incorporate evenly. Once all combined remove to a container and top with salt and pepper.

Serve with crunchy bread that has been lightly heated or celery sticks.

Enjoy!

Long Awaited Gardening Update

2010-05-20T05:22:00.001-07:00

All planting is done! It is hard to believe I am saying that as I am almost always finishing planting on Memorial Day Weekend!

Final count 49 tomato plants, 35 pepper plants, 6 brussels sprouts and a couple varieties of lettuce, radishes, zuchinni, cantaloupe, acorn squash, purple onions and herbs!

We have had a few radishes and more will be ready within the next week!

Now the fun begins-keeping up with weeds and also watching things grow!

Hope everyone elses gardening season has been an enjoyable one so far!

Enjoy

chick pic week 5

2010-05-17T04:53:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe these guys are 5 weeks old already! They haven't found their full voice yet but they are definately liking the warm weather we had over the weekend!

Chick Pick Week 5

2010-05-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

The boys continue to get bigger and bigger! This week they began venturing outside without being pushed and by the end of the week they will most likely find their voice! Great noises are coming from them now!

Fajita Tip

2010-05-04T04:58:00.000-07:00

Cinco De Mayo is tomorrow and I thought I would share with you my favorite fajita seasoning.

It is Bolner's Fiesta brand and it is available at Cub. I highly recommend the Chicken Fajita Seasoning-it is buttery and very very good on everything not just chicken.

Eventhough I am giving you this tip for fajita's for Cinco De Mayo-we are not having fajita's we are having one of my favorites...It is my Dad's Taco's.

These are just good burger with taco seasonings, hot hot sauce, lettuce, tomatoe and freshly grated cheese. Why are they my Dad's taco's???? Because when I was growing up it was my Dad's job to fry the corn tortilla's in oil-he would stand for along time frying up those shells as he would eat 6-10 taco's in one sitting!

This was one of his favorite meals! Gotta love those memories-especially when they have to do with my dad and food!!!

By the way, I add homemade refried beans on the side to round out our meal!

Enjoy

Chick Pic Week 4

2010-05-03T03:56:00.000-07:00

The kids have access to outside this week-none of them are braving it at this point-but we are figuring the wind we have been having is freaking them out!

FiddleHeads

2010-05-01T06:10:00.000-07:00

We found enough fiddleheads yesterday to get a good little taste of them-it is truely on the end of their season!

All I did was saute them in a little olive oil and butter with salt and pepper and the taste was amazing-very nutty and fresh.

We enjoyed them so much that we are going out today and get some more and I am going to put them in our egg rolls tonight.

MMMMMMMMMM!

By the way we were successful and found some of our own morels-we will be looking again today-hopefully luck will be on our side again today.

Morel Mushrooms

2010-04-30T05:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a friend of Frank's we are going to enjoy a big Rib eye steak on the grill adorned with a healthy portion of fresh morel mushrooms!

With any luck the weather will hold out today and we will get out and find a few for ourselves.

Man gotta love the wild stuff you can find in the area-fiddle heads, ramps, asparagus and of course morels! Also, if you are adventoursome try nettle-gotta blanch it to remove the itchy little prickly things but it is worth the little bit of work.

Enjoy

Chick Pic's Week 3

2010-04-26T06:46:00.001-07:00

Here are the chicks at about 3 weeks old. This week found them being moved into new digs as they were getting to big! They love all of the extra space and continue to grow!!!!!!

Rhubarb

2010-04-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Last night we had grilled hearts of romaine salad with crispy fried bacon and roasted rhubarb vinaigrette-oh ya and for dessert we had a vanilla rhubarb sauce over brittle chip ice cream!

Gotta love spring time-can't wait to see what other ways I can use all of the rhubarb that is coming in!

Enjoy

This Week's Chick Pic!

2010-04-19T05:53:00.001-07:00

Rhubarb Another Sign of Spring

2010-04-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

As my Rhubarb soaks up this wonderful rain I begin to think about my favorite recipes that I make every year right around this time whether it be Rhubarb Custard Cake or the new recipe I just found that I can't wait to try Country Rhubarb Cake which is described as a recipe that creates like a pie but tastes like a scone!!! Or the recipe for Roasted Rhubarb Vinaigrette mmmmmmm mmmmmmmm

I wonder what are other people's favorites??? Anyone have one that they would like to share?

Hope you all are enjoying this Spring.

Chicks Have Arrived

2010-04-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

I know last week I let everyone know that the chicks were supposed to be delayed by a week-well after a little side trip to Milwaukee we received 25 chicks last Wednesday.

Here are a couple of pictures of them-these were taken on Sunday the 11th-so they are just shy of a week old!

They are so cute!

Something Else

2010-04-08T05:04:00.000-07:00

I also wanted to share with you the Marinated Cheese that I made for an event a week or so ago. It is such a wonderful appetizer that looks much more involved than it really is!

Follow Up on a few things

2010-04-08T04:56:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of weeks I have talked about the Silky Chicken that we butchered that had blue skin and meat-I now have a picture that I am hoping I can share with you of the chicken next to another chicken to show the color difference. This is the whole bird after it has been butchered.

Another Sure Sign of Spring

2010-04-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

I was so excited that I was going to be able to share another sign of spring with everyone today-the arrival of our chicks! But a mix up in delivery and they won't be here until next week. These are meat birds that we are raising and then in a few weeks we will get about 1/2 dozen turkeys and another 15 chickens-these will be a variety and who knows maybe we will get another Silky Chicken in the mix!!!!!

Spring Fusion

2010-04-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

Chives are up in the garden and since they do literally grow like weeds-I am really using them in everything!

Growing up my Grandma made these wonderful Chive dumplings that were about the size of a baseball and filled with butter and chives-wonderful-but WOW the amount of butter is mind blowing.

So over the last few years I have created my own version-Chive Kanefli-yes the little german noodle/dumpling/pasta meets the chive!

Basic recipe is about a cup flour and 1 egg with a pinch of salt. You want to have the dough be sticky and not watery. I add about a tablespoon or so of chopped chives and pepper too.

Bring water to a boil and then drop marble size amounts of dough into the boiling water-the smaller the dumpling size the better.

Once all dumplings have risen to the top of the boiling water allow to boil for another minute or so. Drain dumplings.

For this batch then I would melt about 2 tbsp of butter with a couple cloves of garlic chopped as well 2-3 tablespoons chives. Toss the dumplings and coat with wonderful goodness.

I think Grandma would even like this version of one of my favorite childhood memories.

Enjoy

Spring is here for certain!

2010-03-31T09:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I planted a total of 120 plants/seeds in my AeroGrow garden which will eventually be planted in my gardens! Keep your fingers crossed that they grow quickly as I would have liked them to be planted about 2 weeks ago-but I couldn't get the supplies needed!

The weather outside makes me want to be gardening now-but wowo it is only April1 tomorrow. I will be gettting the lettuce, radishes, herbs and squash in within the next week or so.

Next week we will also be getting 25 new chicks-our first order of the year.

Man I love this time of year!

Kitchen Gadget Must Have

2010-03-26T05:47:00.000-07:00

I know everyone has their favorite kitchen gadget-mine is my knife sharpener! I have to say it is the best thing since sliced bread!

It is the Corona Sharpening Tool-it is about the size of a popcicle stick but works better than any sharpener I have ever used.

I found out about this tool a few years back from one of the trucker friends of mine during potato harvest in North Dakota-it was an amazing find and I appreciate Louis sharing this with me.

You can find this tool on line at Amazon-there it is titled the Corona Clipper Sharpening tool and is $9.33 plus shipping or at Peaceful Valley Farm and Gardening(groworganic.com) it is the Corona Sharpening Tool and is $7.99.

I promise you will love this gadget and your knives will be like brand new-there is nothing better than a super sharp knife!

Enjoy

NCAA Basketball Tourney and Food

2010-03-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

With the start of the NCAA tourney yesterday-the fun food is on its way!

Last night Grilled Fish Tostada's with a spicy black bean sauce. Tonight Hot Cappricola and Asparagus Pizza!

Not sure what the rest of the weekend will bring-but I will keep you updated.

By the way-another successful St Paddy's day my home corned beef was awesome as was the raspberry guiness sauce served on top a a devils chocolate cake-WOW!

Go Gophers!

Blue Skinned chicken

2010-03-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

As some of you know we have carried 4 hens thru the winter for the eggs they were laying-well in the past week the two little banties stopped laying eggs. So we decided that they would be dinner this weekend!

Sunday morning Frank went out to butcher up the two little hens. He was outside for about 20 minutes and stuck his head in the door and asked if I thought it was any concern that "whitey" which is what we had named the white long feathered chicken was blue! I thought he just meant the skin was a little blue compared to the other hen. He brought them in and the one chicken was a deep blue color which I would compare to a deep deep bruise you might get.

Never had we seen this before-well by the wondor of the internet we figured out that this was a breed from China called a silky chicken and this is part of their breed-dark blue skin, meat and also the bones are blue/black. This breed dates back to Marco Polo and he was so impressed with them that he wrote about them in his chronicles.

Well let me tell you I had a tough time thinking about eating this chicken-we smoked it and then I pulled it off the bone and made Tortilla chicken soup! We did taste a little bit of this meat by itself and it tasted more wild to me sort of like pheasant or rabbit.

But boy did it make a wonderful soup!

Bonefish Bang Bang Shrimp MMMMMMMMMM

2010-03-11T05:42:00.000-08:00

A few years ago when Frank and I were in Tampa we found Bonefish-not only did we find Bonefish we found their Bang Bang Shrimp! All I can say is WOW they are very very very good.

So this past weekend I was reading my latest Food Network Magazine and they featured a "Top Secret" recipe and it was the Almost Famous Spicy Fried Shrimp from Bonefish.

I tried this recipe last night and man did it bring us back to that trip-sitting outside with their outdoor seating and then again for a nice dinner inside on another occasion.

Check out Foodnetwork.com for the recipe and try it-see what memories you can create.

Enjoy